Gasquet wins all-French affair in Winston-Salem

Los Angeles - Top seeded Richard Gasquet defeated French compatriot Stephane Robert in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Tour's Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday.

Gasquet saved seven of eight break points and broke the unseeded Robert's serve five times in the hardcourt tournament in North Carolina.

"I've known Stephane for a long time now, so I know how dangerous he can be," Gasquet said.

"He likes to play close to the baseline. We've practised together often, so I know his game and he knows mine. I didn't make many mistakes today, and that was the difference."

Gasquet will next face Australia's John Millman, who came from behind to win 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 against wild card Bjorn Fratangelo.

Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun advanced to his fourth straight Winston-Salem quarter-final with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.

"Fortunately I played really well on game points and on break points," Lu said. "My serve was there when I needed it, and that helped me a lot today."

Next up for Lu will be number two seed Roberto Bautista Agut, of Spain, who defeated Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Fifteenth-seeded Fernando Verdasco fired 10 aces as he rolled over fourth seeded American Steve Johnson of the Unites States 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).

In the quarter-finals, Verdasco will face Serbia's Viktor Troicki, who toppled American Sam Querrey 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).

Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia advanced when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic retired at 5-5 in the first set.

Results from the ATP Winston-Salem tournament on Wednesday (x denotes seeded player):

3rd round

Richard Gasquet (FRA x1) bt Stephane Robert (FRA) 6-1, 6-3

John Millman (AUS) bt Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 5-7, 6-0, 6-3

Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) bt Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 6-4, 6-0

Pablo Carreo-Busta (ESP x16) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU x3) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1)

Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS x12) bt Jir Vesel (CZE) 5-5 abandon

Fernando Verdasco (ESP x15) bt Steve Johnson (USA x4) 6-4, 7-6 (9/7)

Roberto Bautista (ESP x2) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP x14) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1

Viktor Troicki (SRB x9) bt Sam Querrey (USA x6) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)